A Surprise Battler
by Eman1597
Summary: Ash decides to take the day off, and head to the beach of Undella City. But when his day of relaxation reveals a strong trainer and his pokémon, Ash doesn't waste the opportunity to further himself as a battler.


**Hey fellow readers. I am Eman1597. I am a new writer, and this is my very first story on this site. Please leave a review after you read, and tell me how I did. Enjoy!**

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Ash took a deep breath in through his nose, relaxing on the warm sand beneath him. He always liked beaches, especially Undella Town. Hardly anyone was there; with the odd exception being the residents, and a vacant beach chair close by, and the people that lived there weren't trainers, which meant Ash had found a perfect place to relax. He looked up at the sun, which just past the mark over Ash's head. Pikachu quickly ran over to the ocean as Ash set up a beach chair, and started looking for water pokémon.

Just before Ash sat down, he heard Pikachu make a startled cry, and turned to see what happened. He saw that something had emerged from the water right in front of Pikachu. Ash went to see what it was, and as he got closer, he saw it was a teenager, probably older than himself.

Ash picked up Pikachu and put him on his shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?" Ash asked the teen.

He looked confused after Ash asked that. "Yeah," he replied slowly, walking out of the water. Ash noticed that he was wearing normal clothes, and not a swim suit. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you just came out of the ocean, and you aren't even dressed to swim, so I thought that someone may have pushed you in, or something."

He smiled, and shook his head. "No, I went in voluntarily. As for why I'm not changed, is because my Vaporeon decided to play a game of catch with me in the water before I was ready. She won, though." Ash nodded in understanding. _A Vaporeon? I'd like to see her… I wonder how strong she is._ Ash thought to himself. "By the way," he continued, reaching out his hand to Ash. "I'm Nathan."

Ash shook his hand. "I'm Ash. Nice to meet you." Ash smiled kindly. Nathan walked over to the beach chair close by, and pulled a towel out of the bag that lay there. He started drying his blonde hair, and walked back over to Ash.

"So, Ash, are you just here to relax, or can I challenge you to a battle?" Nathan asked.

Despite Ash's wishes to simply relax for the day, he wanted to see Nathan's Vaporeon, and see how strong of a trainer he is. "I'm in, Nathan." Ash said, pulling out his other pokéballs, and finding only one other pokémon. "Is it okay if we only battle with two though?"

Nathan nodded. "For sure. I'll only use two, then." He took a few steps away from Ash, and Nathan looked at him, silently telling him he was ready.

"Let's start with you, Houndour!" Nathan called, releasing a pokéball from his hand. A Houndour appeared only steps away from Ash, and he knew who he must start with.

Ash grabbed his pokéball, and tossed it, shouting "You're up, Boldore." Ash caught the pokéball as it bounced back to him, and watched as the flash of light materialized into his Boldore. "Alright Boldore, start with Slam!" The Boldore jumped up, and started falling, aiming for the Houndour.

Without a command, the Houndour jumped swiftly out of the way, and barked at Boldore. "Good job, Houndour!" Nathan called in praise. "Now, use Flamethrower!" Houndour charged up, and let loose a stream of fire, but Boldore didn't seem too affected by the attack.

"Boldore, use Rock Blast!" Following the command, Boldore punched the ground, causing small stones to float in the air, and Boldore launched them at Houndour. They all hit, and the attack left Houndour panting, but not down yet.

Houndour worked up his strength, and Nathan called out a command. "Houndour! Get behind him, and use Headbutt!" Houndour, as swift as ever, darted behind Boldore, and charged at him.

Ash knew Boldore was too slow to be able to get out of the way, so he thought of the next best thing. "Boldore, use Harden!" Boldore hardened himself just as Houndour head butted him, and Houndour froze for a second, before teetering, and falling over.

"Good job, Houndour!" Nathan said, retreating Houndour to his pokéball. Nathan looked straight ahead, and shouted "It's your turn, Vaporeon!" She must have been waiting for Nathan to call her, because she immediately, but gracefully, jumped out of the ocean, and into the battle. "Vaporeon, Water Gun!" Vaporeon launched water at the Boldore, and it toppled backwards, barely staying up on his feet.

_That's a strong pokémon!_ Ash thought."Boldore, use Rock Blast!" Ash called out, desperate to weaken Vaporeon.

"Vaporeon, evade them all!" Nathan called out, as Boldore launched the floating stones. Vaporeon, evidently swifter than Houndour, was able to dodge all five stones, and turned confidently back to Boldore. "Great job! Now, finish Boldore off with another Water Gun!" Vaporeon shot more water, and knocked Boldore out, forcing Ash to call him back.

Ash looked at Pikachu. "Are you ready?" he asked. Pikachu nodded. "Alright, Pikachu, you're up!" Pikachu ran past Ash, and at Vaporeon. "Let's start with a Volt Tackle!" Pikachu sped up, and continued charging at Vaporeon, while electricity formed around Pikachu.

"Vaporeon!" Nathan called out to her. "Slow Pikachu down with a water pulse!" Vaporeon launched the attack straight at Pikachu, but Pikachu ran right through it without slowing down. Pikachu slammed into Vaporeon, shocking her and knocking her backwards into the water. She didn't surface, and Ash thought he might have won with that attack.

Faster than he could imagine, Ash saw Vaporeon suddenly jumped high out of the water. "Quick, use Hydro Pump Vaporeon!" Nathan called out. At the climax of her jump, Vaporeon blasted water at Pikachu, nailing him on the head, and making him slightly dizzy. He quickly recovered, however, shaking his head.

"Ok, Pikachu. Use Thunderbolt!" Pikachu charged up electricity, and shot a bolt of electricity at Vaporeon, who managed to barely dodge it. Pikachu kept trying, but all of them missed Vaporeon. "Pikachu, try Iron Tail!" Pikachu's tail turned a steel-grey colour, and he charged at Vaporeon.

"Vaporeon, dodge it, and use Water Pulse!" As Pikachu swung his tail at her, Vaporeon jumped over him, and landed behind, using Water Pulse to knock Pikachu away. He skidded along the sand, his head half in the ground. When he came to a stop, Pikachu couldn't work up the strength to get up. Nathan won the battle.

Ash ran up to Pikachu, picking him up. "Pii…" Pikachu sighed, looking apologetic.

"Don't worry, you did great." Ash calmed him. Pikachu sighed again, and Ash turned to Nathan, who was praising Vaporeon for an excellent battle. Ash started to walk over him, and only then realized that a small group of people have formed close by, and were clapping, looking at Ash and Nathan. He thought he saw a familiar face in the crowd, but he decided to ignore it, and continued over to Nathan.

He put out his hand, congratulating Nathan on his win. "You're such a great trainer!" Ash said, as Nathan shook his hand. "I wish I could be as good as you!"

Nathan smiled. "You're on the right path. Give it some time, and you'll be much better than me." He said, as he gestured to the Pokémon Center close by. "Let's go heal up our pokémon."

They started walking towards the Center, and Ash could help but quiver in excitement. "You really think so?" He wondered.

"Oh, yeah! Your pokémon obviously trust you a lot, and you're very kind towards them. I always find those two traits very important in a pokémon trainer, trust and kindness, and you have them both." Nathan explained.

"Wow, thanks Nathan. Um," Ash hesitated for a second.

"Yes? It's there something you want to ask?" Nathan asked kindly.

"Well, if it's alright with you, can I tag along with you? I want to learn more about being a better trainer, and I think I can learn a lot more from you than I can learn alone." Ash explained. "So, can I?"

Nathan thought for a moment, but nodded. "I see no problem with it. It could also help me, too. See, I'm training new pokémon, like my Houndour, and another trainer with me that I can battle with will help train my pokémon, as well as yours." He pointed out.

"I see. That makes sense. Thanks Nathan. Maybe one day, I'll be able to beat you."

"Maybe one day, if you're lucky." Ash made a fake angry face at Nathan's joke, as they entered the Pokémon Center.

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**Once again, please leave a review on how I did. Depending on if people liked the chapter or not, I may continue... I guess we'll find out!**


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